Homemade ketchup

4 November 2011

Normally I don’t make my own ketchup at home – for a squirt here or there, Heinz is just fine. But when I make a ketchup-heavy recipe – like the sloppy joes recipe I’m getting ready to post – I don’t mind taking a few minutes to make my own so I don’t ingest a whole bottle’s worth of high fructose corn syrup and preservatives.

Heinz now makes an organic version, as well as Simply Heinz, which substitutes sugar for HFCS. But when I make ketchup at home, it’s both organic (I love Trader Joe’s organic tomato paste) and HFCS-free.

If you start with tomato paste rather than fresh tomatoes, making ketchup is silly easy – tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, salt, onion powder and garlic powder. Of course you can use fresh onions and/or garlic, but with picky eaters it can be hard to mess with a taste as familiar as ketchup. With onion and garlic powder, no one would guess that homemade isn’t Heinz.

Heat up our six ingredients in a saucepan.

Whisk to combine and bring to boil.

Simmer 20 minutes until thickened.

And there it is – homemade Heinz, without the HFCS and preservatives.

Homemade ketchup won’t last as long as commercial ketchup, but with sugar and vinegar as natural preservatives, it should keep fine for a week or two in the fridge.

Homemade KetchupNormally I don’t make my own ketchup, since I don’t use a lot of it, but this recipe is handy when I’m making a ketchup-heavy recipe (eg sloppy joes) and I don’t want the high fructose corn syrup and preservatives. Adapted from Top Secret Recipes.

Ingredients

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Combine ingredients in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk to eliminate lumps while bringing to a boil. Reduce heat to low.

Wonder if you can make a double or triple batch and freeze the extra in ice cube trays. Then store in small quantities in plastic bags vacuumed sealed with the foodsaver to keep for longer periods? Could defrost quantity needed in microwave. Sounds like a much healthier way to have ketchup.

Coming over from Friday Favorite Finds via Gracefully Wise. I have a number of homemade convenience food recipes on my blog but have never made ketchup. This looks like a great, easy recipe. I have subscribed to your blog. Thanks for sharing.

welcome

chinese grandma is a philosophy about food, family, health and practicality inspired by old-school grandmas everywhere. It's about cooking good food, living a good life, and sharing lessons learned. More about me...